My twin brother died from taking Bupropion.?

Question

Are there any other stories about this drug, Please share this information with me and others

Answer 1

To make a long story short, yes bupropion can kill. It takes a relatively small dose to induce siezure which if untreated can lead to grand mal seizure and death. Most pharmacies can print you up a copy of the warnings that accompany it.
Wellbutrin is a brand name of bupropion, it is generally used in the form of 150 mg. tablets. The problem is 450 mg causes 4 of every 1000 users to have seizures. That's 4 times higher than other anti-depressants! It also climbs expotentially with each dose above the 450 mg level.
No anti-depressants in the SSRI class should be used with an MAOI anti-depressant, but bupropion is the absolute worst in terms of a reaction. Kidney or liver damage can also cause a build up in someone's system. A smaller dose is recommended.
I was on this once as Zyban to stop smoking long ago, not effective for me. I was also perscribed wellbutrin while using prozac for depression, as a sort of lift to offset the insensate feeling I got with prozac. I had mini hallucinations. Nothing overwhelming, more of a corner of the eye type thing. Periphial vision would make me see movements but looking straight at it I'd see nothing. Finally figured out that it had heightened the acuity of my periphial vision. Things like a leaf slowly waving in a breeze would seem to be wildly shaking in my periphial vision. Didn't really care for that feeling, so had meds changed again to something that didn't cause that.

Answer 2

Such incidences are so rare its idiotic to be overly concerned about it. I know the drug well and have been on it before. People have died and shed their skin like a snake from taking the most basic health meds. I don't know why else you would be asking this question unless you were concerned about this med effecting you or someone you know similarly, but I can assure you the chances are next to nil.
The most hilariously idiotic warnings are the ones some anti depressants give about increased suicide risk.
I guarantee you thousands of severely depressed people will die of suicide brought about by their depression because they read that kind of suicide warning on the box and didn't try the meds which could have saved their lives. All because one out of a thousand kids, who obviously had to be majorly depressed in the first place to be put on psych meds, killed them self while taking them.
Its true some psych meds can make you feel more depressed, but the prevention is to make people aware that a drug is capable of this and they should stop it if it is making them more suicidal. The fact is most peoples' lives, who work intelligently with a doctor, are forever changed for the better when they find a med that helps balance their brain chemistry.

Answer 3

I am so sorry for you and you family. According to the link below:
in a study done in the UK "a total of 9329 individuals had been prescribed bupropion (mean age 44 years, 48% male). The total person-time after the first prescription for bupropion was 17 586 years, and during this time 121 people died. Two people died within the first 28 days of treatment, which was less than expected in comparison with the remaining observation period by an incidence ratio of 0.50 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.12 to 2.05). Twenty eight people were recorded as having a total of 45 seizures (23 before starting bupropion, two in the first 28 days of treatment, and 20 at a later point). The relative incidence of seizures during the first 28 days of treatment was 3.62 (95% CI 0.87 to 15.09), equivalent to one additional seizure per 6219 first time bupropion users."

"In Canada, over a period of three years, there were 1127 reports of serious side effects in people taking bupropion. These included 19 deaths."

Another perspective is from a doctor who states:

"There have been reports in the media concerning Zyban which incite controversy and concern amongst the public. Here is the opinion of Dr J-P Humair, faced with different statements and controversies which have appeared recently in the media: :

The recent announcement in the UK concerning the fatal dangers of Zyban is typical of the distortion of health-related information which often occurs in the media. The fact that there have been “57 deaths during or after taking Zyban” 'has been transformed into the more catchy news that « 57 deaths [have been] caused by Zyban ».

Going back to the original sources, and based on the available data concerning Zyban, I would like to make the following points:

The 57 deaths are only notifications to the British Medicines Control Agency of deaths of persons who were taking or had recently been taking Zyban
These notifications are a normal control procedure in respect of all medicines and their number is always slightly higher shortly after the introduction of a new medicine
These notifications are the subject of investigations which have so far not shown any causal relation between these deaths and Zyban.
Most of the deceased already had an illness or disease explaining the death, and a large number of these was due to smoking.
Even those who had stopped smoking (with or without Zyban) could have developed a new smoking-related disease as the risk only diminishes little by little over the years.
All of the studies carried out to date show no difference in the number of deaths of smokers using Zyban and those taking a placebo.
This medicine has been used for stopping smoking in the USA and Canada for at least 5 years and no death has been shown to have been caused by Zyban, this is also the case for Wellbutrin which contains the same substance at a higher dose for the treatment of depression.
Even if these deaths were attributable to Zyban (which is not at all the case), the risk would still be tiny (57/400'000, or 0.014%) and in no way comparable with the enormous risk of death caused by smoking, which is 50% !!! 50%!!!
Finally it should be remembered that the media are often more interested in selling their news than in public health, even if it means throwing the population into a panic. On the other hand, one should seriously doubt the impartiality of the media on the subject of smoking, as they are financially very dependant on the tobacco industry whose adverts they carry."
http://www.stop-tabac.ch/en/zyban.html

Answer 4

i know seizures are possbible.i have taken it for 7yrs.I AM truly
sorry you lost your twin.take all the time you need to feel okay.
dont let anyone rush you.as far a bupropion goes any one can have a reaction to any med.ive taken demeral for kidney stones
for years and just had a reaction to a few months ago.sad fact is
any med can cause a reaction.if you or a close family member is currently taking wellbutrin tell them to tell their dr. to see if med change is needed.other than wellbutrin dont worry to much about
other meds.what happened to your brother is extremly rare.youll
drive your self nuts if you constantly worry if it might happen again.

Answer 5

It's awful that you lost your twin. Try this website for help and support: www.twinlesstwins.org.